Independiente del Valle of Ecuador has emerged as a club that produces top talent.

Second string cup competitions are an easy target. It is a comfortable position, for example, to sneer at the Thursday night football of the Europa League -- and if that applies to a tournament containing the likes of Benfica and Napoli, Arsenal and Chelsea, it is all the more true on the other side of the Atlantic.

The Copa Libertadores came to life in 1960 as South America's response to the creation in Europe of the competition now known as the Champions League. The Libertadores has history...

The passions that football engenders have a huge capacity to bring to the surface some of the best and the worst of the human being. The game can forge international friendships, and it can turn neighbours into enemies. Both sides of the balance sheet have been on show in Brazil in the past few days.

On Sunday, a local cup final in Rio de Janeiro turned into an object lesson of the dangers of adults acting like children, and a warning of what can happen when teams see each other as enemies rather...

Atletico Paranaense's triumph in the Copa Sudamericana over Junior of Colombia gives the Brazilian side their first ever South American trophy.

Typically, when finals go to a penalty shoot-out, there is a feeling that either side could come out on top. But that hardly applied to the 2018 Copa Sudamericana.

Atletico Paranaense of Brazil had been forced to substitute their entire attacking line in the course of an epic 120 minutes against Atletico Junior of Colombia. Even so, there seemed little chance of the Colombians prevailing from the spot. Just over a year ago they blew the chance of reaching the 2017 Copa Sudamericana final by missing...

The win over the Colombian visitors in South America's second-most important club competition gives the Brazilian side their first ever continental triumph.

After a 1-1 stalemate at the conclusion of 90 minutes at Arena da Baixada, Junior had an opportunity to take the lead in the 111th minute, but Jarlan Barrera botched a penalty and sailed it into the stands.